Symptom: You backed up some files on a
Novell server. Your server died or was migrated away. You now need to
restore files off the Novell backup, but when you do, they are corrupt. If
you were to use a hex editor, a good majority of them will have this
header:

Causes: Backups from a Novell server will
send the data to the tape SDIF encapsulated, and often times
pre-compressed.

Solution: The easiest way to get the data
back is to find a Novell system or reinstall Novell yourself. You'll be
(theoretically) able to get back all of your data. If that isn't possible,
you could use my SDIF tool to extract the data
stream from the SDIF encapsulated file. However, if the file was compressed
by Novell, it won't be able to decompress it because Novell won't publish
the comopression format.

With luck, problem solved.

Shortcomings: Novell's compression method
is propriatary and is not disclosed. Because of this, I don't know of any
tool that can decode compressed data, and I am unable to write one. If you
get your hands on the algorithm, and if Novell doesn't mind, I would love to
modifiy my SDIF tool to allow decompression of
compressed files.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 when they eliminated one olive from each salad served in first class.